Reflexology and Maternity Therapies Kidderminster Call 07531 121199

Pre Menstrual Syndrome is a condition that effects many women and can have a very negative effect on their lives. They may feel physically and emotionally unwell, causing daily life to be very negatively affected. There are many different symptoms of premenstrual syndrome (PMS), which can vary from person to person and change slightly every month.

The symptoms of PMS usually happen at the same time in your menstrual cycle each month, which can be up to two weeks before your period starts. They usually improve once your period has started, and then disappear until your cycle starts again.

More than 100 different symptoms of PMS have been recorded, but the most common are listed below:

There have been several studies exploring the use of reflexology in the management of PMS. The results are promising suggesting reflexology would be helpful for most women experiencing PMS. One such study is summarised below.

Terry Oleson PhD and William Flocco, American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Vol. 82, No. 6, December 1993

This study was designed to explore whether reflexology treatments could significantly reduce pre menstrual symptoms compared to a placebo treatment. Thirty-five women who reported pre menstrual syndrome (PMS) were randomly assigned to be treated by reflexology or to receive placebo reflexology. The subjects completed a daily diary monitoring 38 premenstrual symptoms on a four-point scale. Physical and psychological indicators of premenstrual distress were recorded each day for 2 months prior to treatment, for 2 months during reflexology treatment, and for 2 months afterward.

The reflexology sessions for both groups were provided by trained reflexology therapist once a week for 8 weeks, and lasted 30 minutes each.The placebo group recived manual stimulation of feet but not specific reflexology. All the placebo subjects indicated that they believed they were recieving reflexology and found it pleasant.

Results: Statistical analysis for repeated measures demonstrated a significantly greater decrease in pre menstrual symptoms for the women given true reflexology than for the women in the placebo group. The treatment group showed a 46% reduction in premenstrual symptoms, which continued at 41% during the post treatment period. This included both psychological and physical symtpoms. It was concluded that reflexology is a positive therapy choice for the management of PMS.

The study would need to be repeated with a larger group of subjects before reflexology could be described as a treatment for PMS but the results are very promising.

ReflexologyDr Carol Samuel is a trained reflexologist who carried out the experiment as part of her PhD studies. She said it was the first time this therapy had been scientifically tested as a treatment for acute pain.

Dr Samuel concluded the results suggested that reflexology could be used to complement conventional drug therapy in the treatment of conditions associated with pain such as osteoarthritis, backache and cancers.

The experiment involved 15 subjects who attended two sessions, in which they were asked to submerge their hand in ice slurry.

In one of the sessions they were given foot reflexology before they submerged their hand, and in the second session they believed they were receiving pain relief from a Tens machine, which was not actually switched on.

The researchers found that when the participants received reflexology prior to the session they were able to keep their hand in the ice water for longer before they felt pain, and that they could also tolerate the pain for a longer period of time. The study found that people felt about 40 per cent less pain, and were able to stand pain for about 45 per cent longer. Statistical analysis showed the compared to control data, reflexology increased acute pain threshold (F(1,14) = 4.5958, p < 0.05) and tolerance (F(1,14) = 5.1095, p < 0.05).

"It is likely that reflexology works in a similar manner to acupuncture by causing the brain to release chemicals that lessen pain signals."

Dr Ivor Ebenezer, co-author of the study, said: "We are pleased with these results. Although this is a small study, we hope it will be the basis for future research into the use of reflexology."

Dr Ebenezer said: "Complementary and alternative therapies come in for a lot of criticism, and many have never been properly tested scientifically.

"One of the common criticisms by the scientific community is that these therapies are often not tested under properly controlled conditions.

"When a new drug is tested its effects are compared with a sugar pill.

"If the drug produces a similar response to the sugar pill, then it is likely that the drug's effect on the medical condition is due to a placebo effect.

"In order to avoid such criticism in this study, we compared the effects of reflexology to a sham Tens control that the participants believed produced pain relief.

"This is the equivalent of a sugar pill in drug trials."

Reflexology is a complementary medical approach, which works alongside orthodox medicine, in which pressure may be applied to any body area but is commonly used on either the feet or hands. More reserach is needed with larger subject groups but this study represents an exciting starting point in studying the effects of reflexology on pain.

Breathe Holistic Therapy advises every client to seek medical advise if they are concerned about their physical or emotional health.

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